Flour-sifter.



` tion.

Patented June 23, 1903.

VGEORGE WINN HANCOCK, OF LYNCIIBURG, VIRGINIA.

l-"LOUFt-slF-rian.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters? PatentNo. 731,895, dated J' une 23, 1903.

Application filed October 1.1902. Serial Nd. 125,481. (No model.) l

To @ZZ whom/it may concern:

Be it known that I, `(inonde WINN HAN- COCK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Lynchburg, in the county of Cam pbell and State of Virginia, have invented a new and ImprovedFlour-Sifter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip- 4 The purpose of my invention is toprovide a simple, durable, and economic manuallyoperated device adapted to sift flour, meal, and other powdered or pulverized substances faster and with more ease and cleanliness 4 than can be done by the old-style wood or tin rimmed hand-operated sifter.

` Another purpose of the invention is to con-V struct a horizontally reciprocating sifter which can be conveniently held in one hand and operated by the other, in which all agitators, beaters, or other mechanical devices operating overthe screen or sieve surface are discarded, thus preventing dirt, bugs, worms, weevils, dac., from being pressed or ground through the meshes of the sieve, thereby preserving the sifted material clean and pure.

The invention consists in the novel conm struction and combination of the'several c so parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth,

`and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding-parts inall the figures.`

a Figure 1 is a plan View of the improved sifter. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3' is an enlarged transverse section on the'line 33 of Fig. 1.

The bodyA of the sifter is of skeleton construction and is preferably made of metal. Said body consists of arear member 10, side `members 11, and a front member 12, and

these members are preferably bifurcated and `open at their lower ends to receive the edges `of the material 13 to form the sieve or screen B of the device. Preferably in forming the said screen or sieve the sides and ends thereofare made to extend or bulge out beyond the corresponding members of the frame A;

but the material of the screen or sieve may be otherwise attached to the frame A, if

`handle-bars 19.

found desirable. Loops 14 extend `upward `from the side members 11 of the frame, and at the rear member of the frame an upper extension 15 is preferably provided of substantially equal length to that of the rear member 10. The extension member l5 may be a, portion of the rear member lO, if desired.V

1 The sievejust described is supported upon track-bars 16, which track-bars correspond to the side bars 11 of the sieve-frame A and are immediately over the said side bars of the frame, being loosely passed through the loops 14, as is especially shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Cross-bars 17 are carried from the inner ends of the track-bars 16 in direction of each other, and the said cross-bars 17 are continued in parallel lines at a suitable distance apart rearward from the frame of the sieve to form (Shown best inFig. 2.) The said handle-bars l9connect with the trackbars 16 and are preferably passed through a ring 18, which ring is attached to the transverse bars 17, as is also best shown in Fig. 1, and the handle-bars 19, at their rear ends, are preferably attached to a cylindrical handlesection 2O for convenience in holding the device. The handle bars 19 are ordinarily braced to the transversebars 17 by diagonal brace-bars 21. (Also shown best in Fig. l.)

Acrank-arm 22 is journaled in the handlebars 19, and at one end of the crank-arm 22, preferably its right-hand end, a crank-handle 23is Vsecured or is made integral with the' Vcrank-arm, by means of which said crankarmis operated. The crank-arm 22 is connected with the sieve-frame A through. the medium of a link or bar 24, which is pivotally attached to the crank-arm 22 and to the upper extension-bar 15 at the rear of the said sieveframe A. This link or connecting-bar 24 is preferably made of wire bent upon itself to form an eye which receives the crank-arm 22, and the two ends ofthe Vwire are attached to the extension section 1 5 of the frame A through the medium ofa loop 25 or by other means, if found desirable.

In the operation of the device itis held in the left hand, said hand grasping the cylindrical portion 2O of the handle of the device, and with the right hand the crank-handle 23 IOO is turned, which imparts rotary movement to the crank-arm 22 and a reciprocating movement in a horizontal direction to the sieve. Thus it will be observed that' the material to be sifted is constantly shifted in the sieve and will ind its way readily through the.

meshes thereof and that all coarse and foreign matter will be retained in the sieve, from which said Waste material maybe conveniently emptied.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- I. The combination with a sieve, ot a frame having vertical walls formed of flat bars, pairs of oppositely-disposed loops embracing the sides of said bars and having their top portion extended above said bars, fiat track-bars loosely fitting in said loops and vertically disposed above the side walls ofsaid frame,trans verse extensions from the track-bars, spaced handle-bars extending from the rear transverse extensions of the track-bars, a ring inclosing the forward end of said handle-bars at theirjunotion with the frame, acrank-arm pivoted between the handle-bars, a crankhandle connected with said arm, a link formed of wire and bent at its center into an eye to receive said crank-arm, an upwardlyextending section at the rear of the sieveframe, and a horizontally-disposed loop secured at the center of said extension-section, the ends of said wire link being pivotally attached to said loop, `as specified and for the purpose set forth.

2. The herein-described fiour-sifter having a rectangular frame formed of vertically-disposed lat bars, a sieve proper carried by said frame and extending downwardly from the lower edge thereof, the side Walls of said sieve proper being bulged lat their lower sides to extend outwardly beyond said frame, pairs of oppositely-disposed loops secured to the longer sides of said frame and extending upwardly therefrom in the same vertical plane therewith,an upper rectangular frame formed of a single piece of iiat material, the longer sides of said frame passing through said loops to form iiat track-bars, said loops being longitudinally movable on said bars, the rear ends of said at track-bars being bent inwardly toward each other and then outwardly7 parallel with each other to form spaced handle-bars, a crank-arm pivoted between said handle-bars, a crank-handle connected with the crank-arm, and a link connection between the crank-arm and the frame of the sieve proper, as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE 1VVINN HANCOCK.

Witnesses:

WALTER SMITH, J. R. GIELEIN. 

